NOTE The views I express on this site are mine and mine alone. Nothing I say should be construed as being "official" or the views of any group, whether I've been a member of that group or not. The advertisings on this page are from Google, and do not constitute an endorsement on my part.

About Me

I've been everywhere That was the title of a hit country-and-western song from the late 1950's, originally sung by Hank Snow, and made famous by Johnny Cash. I resemble that! My 26-year career in the Air Force took me to more than sixty nations on five continents - sometimes only for a few minutes, other times for as long as four years at a time. In all that travel, I also managed to find the perfect partner, help rear three children, earn more than 200 hours of college credit, write more than 3000 reports, papers, documents, pamphlets, and even a handful of novels, take about 10,000 photographs, and met a huge crowd of interesting people. I use this weblog and my personal website here to document my life, and discuss my views on subjects I find interesting.

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Sunday, January 06, 2013

My "Other" Life

December 28, 2012: Time for a major update!

I've become an almost full-time writer over the last year. In the process, I've all but forgotten this weblog (the major exception was posting the chapters of "Greenfields" here one at a time until the novel was finished). That was a mistake. I really need to get back to writing on this weblog at least every week, if not several times a week.

I have started reading a half-dozen writing weblogs, which is making my writing better. At the same time, they're taking up a lot of time I used to spend doing other things (mostly reading online "news" sites). Here are a few refreshers:

I've finished and posted three novels this year: "Rising Storm", a sequel to "Cynthia", "Greenfields", a stand-alone in the "Last Flight" universe, and "LOST!", a stand-alone novel in the "Kings Cross" universe.

I've started between six and eight NEW novels, including "Skye's the Limit", a sequel to "The Wizard of Skye"; "King's Bench", a sequel to "King's Cross"; "Ysiyeh", the final volume in the "Cynthia" trilogy; "Roll of Honor", a totally stand-alone novel, "Heretic", a totally stand-alone novel, and a revised and updated "Introduction to HTML for Writers", plus three or four other fiction works I haven't decided on the title for yet.

I'm still not really anxious to make a lot of money writing. I'd much rather be READ than RICH. I used to give more books away than I sell -- now it's about an equal split. I especially like to give my books to people I've met and interacted with over the past 45 or 50 years. I especially like to give my books to people I went to high school with, to those I've served with in the Air Force/Army/Marines, and those I've met and developed a friendship with on the Internet.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't like to make some money at this. That is the true measure of success, I'm told. I don't want to make money off my friends and family, but I wouldn't be unhappy with making money from THEIR friends and family. Word of mouth is still the most successful form of advertisement in any market. I just have to keep it in the low five digits if I'm to continue to draw Social Security!

For those of you who don't yet know, here are my books, in the order I wrote them, with a brief teaser and a link to where they can be found.

HUKATA

Mankind has wondered about life elsewhere ever since he realized the lights in the sky were other stars. Scientists dedicate their entire career to looking for extraterrestrial life. Professionals in more than a dozen specialties try to envision new ways to contact other civilizations. Nobody expected them to "just drop in".

-- In the middle of the night.
-- Forty miles from nowhere.
-- In a blizzard.
-- By the gross.

When aliens drop in, it can change your life forever.

Jim Frasier simply set out to rescue a stranger who made a wrong turn heading for a ski holiday. Instead, he finds himself trying to cope with disaster on a dozen levels at once. He has to somehow keep 700 aliens from freezing to death. He has to get help, and he knows that if he doesn’t do it quietly, he’ll be overrun by media and the curious. The complications are enormous – Jim has never faced anything like this before. Food for 700 people, with obvious different backgrounds and different nutritional needs, is alone a catastrophe waiting to happen, and that’s just one of many problems he faces. Just accepting these strange creatures actually exist was a major challenge.

Debbie Fontenot, young, deeply battered by a past she'd like to forget, suddenly finds herself shoved into a series of dilemmas. On a professional level, she’s challenged to provide emergency treatment to creatures that are definitely not human, but who, without care, will surely die. She’s confronted on a personal level by events that shove her into the arms of a loving older man.

And John Tolliver, the sheriff of a small, peaceful mountain county, suddenly finds himself not only the center of the most historical event in a thousand years, but is also confronted by murder, mischief, and a plot to steal half the county.

Last Flight from Queensland Station

Queensland station was a nice place, until a rogue neutron star decided to pay a visit. Then the entire civilized galaxy had to pitch in to move the inhabitants out of harm’s way. A few brave scientists, and the crew of the Galactic Communications and Information (GCI) heavy cruiser Excalibur, would remain behind to record the planet’s demise.

Another group, using the evacuation of Queensland Station for its own purposes, plans to make it Excalibur’s final moment, as well. Their failure puts the lives of more than two hundred men and women in great danger, and sets up a confrontation between what some feel is the most powerful non-government group in the galaxy and those that have attacked it.

Last Flight from Queensland Station is suspense, drama, intrigue, romance and comedy, mixed together in a fast-paced, easy-to-read story.

Cynthia

Cynthia Canarias was a nice young girl who'd attended all the "right" schools, learned all the "right" subjects, and always moved in the "right" circles. Cynthia wanted more than just a quick marriage to the "right" person - chosen by her mother - and a long, dreary life as someone's personal possession. When she tried to find a different life, she found out just how poorly all those "right" things prepared her for reality.

Reality turned ugly quickly, and Cynthia found herself thrust into a series of difficult situations that took every bit of ability, skill, and just plain luck she possessed to survive. She and her new friend, her first real friend, Judy Garcia, not only managed to survive, but to end up fabulously wealthy young ladies. Judy also found romance, and began her own family. That was something Cynthia desperately wanted, but it seemed to constantly elude her, until one young man with the courage to persist entered her life. Reality once more interfered, and Cynthia was once again faced with the possibility of a deep personal loss. Fighting for what she wants encounters some complications, including some totally unexpected - and even humorous - ones.

The Wizard of Skye

Jaren Nordreiker was a nice young man from a planet that didn't believe in mental powers - what the rest of the galaxy called "Magic". He'd still found a way to attend the prestigious "College of Wizardry" on Frome. His newly-minted diploma, even with honors ribbons, appeared to be no help, however, in finding a job in his chosen field, weather manipulation. He'd been barred from joining the Society of Magicians, who control most of the jobs graduates from the College of Wizardry usually fill.
Finding a job that didn't require membership in the Society of Magicians wasn't impossible, only quite difficult. Jaren finally accepts conditional employment on the strange world of Skye, which apparently won't hire anyone who IS a member of the Society. It's not an easy job. The weather on Skye can be unbelievable at times. His job is made more difficult by another person who unknowingly interferes with his work, and by a growing feud between the Society of Magicians and worlds like Skye.

King's Cross

Steve came fully awake slowly. He knew he wasn’t alone in the room. There were at least three other people with him – he could see that many feet. He had no way of knowing if there were more in the room without letting them know he had regained consciousness.

“I think he’s awake,” a quiet, whispery voice said.

“Good,” a more guttural voice answered from behind Steve. “We have much to say to him, and much to discuss.”

“Where’s Tommy?” Steve asked, not moving from where he lay.

“Tommy? Oh, the boy. He’s safe, don’t worry about him,” the guttural voice answered. “You are hungry. You need to eat and drink. When you are finished, we will talk.”

“Eat, young Marine,” the whispery voice said. “Your young boy child will not come to harm. He is safe with us. Hurry, eat. We have much to discuss.”

Steve realized he wasn’t going to get any further answers, and gradually sat up. The room was small. The seven people in it made it even smaller. One reached down and grasped his right hand, easing him to his feet. As Steve stopped swaying, an eighth person brought a tray of food into the room. Her appearance – she was definitely female – and her clothing gave him his first indication of who had kidnapped him. That knowledge only made him more curious. Why would the Universal Church, known for its peaceful behavior and generous philanthropy, suddenly begin kidnapping people?

Being kidnapped was just the beginning of a new life for Steve, one he’d never have considered before. Only time would tell what that new life would mean, not only for him but for his sister and her husband, his best friend and fellow Marine, Rob Wollcott.

Rising Storm

Cynthia Canarias had finally found the man of her dreams, and had married him. Their future was destined not to be one of quiet comfort, however, as events around them wouldn't let them be ignored. Cynthia and Tim were forced to expand and change their lives time and again as the enemies that arose against them pressured them, pursued them, and hounded them and their commercial companies.
Cynthia and Tim, with Judy and Bodinghe, were under constant attacks from both internal enemies of the Council of Worlds, and also by dozens of invading species of aliens. Some of the invading species were friendly, but still placed demands on Cynthia and her family that only expansion and growth would relieve.

The more Cynthia worked to reduce the pressure on her family, the more she came to the attention of the Council of Worlds government, until she's forced both by circumstances and government action to take over as the governor of DownHome. Her actions draw both anger and praise as she continues to succeed against incredible odds. Cynthia has to decide, repeatedly, if the costs of success are worth it, and what she should do as the dangers grow around her.

Greenfields

Jeff Sullivan, a
geologist under contract to evaluate several mineral veins for the
company that hired him, thought he was the only person on the
as-yet-unnamed planet. A brigade of Global Communications and
Information (GCI) battle marines forced him to re-evaluate the
situation. What would GCI Marines be doing on this out-of-the-way
place not one in a billion people had ever heard of?

A herd of
mongolores, a species native to another world several hundred
light-years away, tells Jeff that something was not right where he
is. The actions of another group, an unknown alien species herding
the mongolores, forces Jeff to not only seek shelter from the GCI
Marines, but also warn them they are in danger.

Jeff volunteers to
help the Marines discover who is behind the mongolore stampede, and
several other hostile attacks. In the process, he helps uncover a
major plot aimed at destroying both GCI and much of the Council of
Worlds government – from within.

Fate and
circumstances force Jeff into roles he had not expected to play for
another decade, including that of husband, father, and most
importantly for him and his family, protector. He finds himself
embroiled in both GCI and Council of Worlds politics, trying to keep
his wife, his family, and his new friends, safe.

LOST!

The prestigious
Sun-Dancer luxury passenger liner on a voyage in between worlds in a
crowded part of Human space was on course and on schedule when their
world fell apart around them. First they were kicked somewhere
within a huge sphere, but no longer in Human-occupied space, then
ejected from Transspace. Then their engines were destroyed, and most
of their stored power is lost. The crew manages to wrestle the ship
to the ground on a mercifully inhabitable planet nearby.

The captain of the
Sun-Dancer would soon come to view that as a minor miracle. Factions
form from the very beginning - those that don't believe the ship is
disabled, those that believe they'll be found immediately, and those
that don't believe they need "them" to help them survive,
even those that believe they should be waited on as if nothing had
happened - create a hostile atmosphere matched by the hostility of
the flora and fauna of their new home.

The shaping of a
somewhat stable society from among a dozen bickering parties,
establishing a place to live on a hostile world, and smoothing the
hostilities between human and alien societies, would require all the
leadership, energy, and activity the surviving passengers and crew
could spare.

I bought Hukata yesterday and am 62% of the way through. I will be leaving positive reviews as soon as I've finished it anywhere I can. I'm thinking Amazon and Goodreads for a start and will also leave a review at any other site you wish.

I posted this originally in the comments to Ms. Hoyt's blog, though I can move them here as well, if you want.

BTW, nice article. I hope you don’t mind me throwing all sorts of ideas at the wall in the comment section.

“I believe that there are far more planets in our galaxy than most scientists are willing to admit. ”

Have you heard about the Kepler space telescope? It is using a new method that searches for the dip in the received light from a star as a planet transits across the stellar disk. If the transit is periodic, we can separate it from more random events such as sun-spots. This requires the planetary disc to be aligned our line of sight to the star.

Long story short – they’ve been finding several thousand planets, including some multi-planet systems that are in truly bizzare configurations (if we’re seeing what we think we’re seeing). They aren’t very much like how planets are distributed around our Sun.

Kepler is also discovering a lot of much smaller planets than the gas-giants that we can detect through things like the gravity wobble method. It seems the planets are following a 1/r^2 distribution between size and frequency.

The wobble method is biased in terms of finding close-orbiting gas giants – it can only see very large masses orbiting close to the parent star.

The starlight nulling methods can get direct images of planets by carefully blocking out the host star, but again only very large planets orbiting very far from the stars.

What we have right now is data that is heavily truncated by the limitations in our methods, but with better methods we are seeing much more of what is out there.